tornado

tor·na·do

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noun

The definition of tornado is a twirling, narrow funnel of wind with speeds of 100 to 300 miles per hour that can damage anything in its path.

How a Tornado Forms

Before a thunderstorm forms, there is an area in the lower atmosphere of horizontal, spinning air caused by a change in wind direction and an increase in the wind’s speed along with an increase in height.

When warm air rises, the atmosphere is considered unstable. When the air is cooler than the surrounding air, it will sink and the atmosphere is said to be stable.

When the thunderstorm starts to develop, the updraft lifts the area of spinning air, changing its pitch from horizontal to vertical. At this point, there is a large area of rotation, from two to six miles in diameter, where the tornado typically forms.

A wall cloud will form, a low mass of clouds which rotates.

A tornado forms, which is accompanied by high winds and damaging hail. Tornadoes are frequently spawned by huge thunderstorms called "supercells."

Tornadoes will typically travel in a northeast direction, depending on the winds.

Most tornadoes will not last for more than 10 minutes.

A tornado's path can range from just 100 yards, to one mile wide, or to a path of up to 15 miles wide.

"Tornado Alley" indicates the states which have the highest possibilities of having a tornado: Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and Texas. In these areas the plains are mostly flat and are where cold air masses from Canada and the Rocky Mountains collide with warm and moist air masses from the Gulf of Mexico.

Tornadoes can form in any area at any time of the year; but, most tornadoes form in the southern regions of the U. S. in early spring. The tornado season every year goes from April until mid-June.

Tornado Warnings

A tornado watch means that conditions are favorable for the formation of a tornado. It implies a severe thunderstorm warning, as any thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado will be severe. Usually, there will also be a threat for large hail and high winds.

When a watch is issued, stay alert to changing weather conditions, especially looking for dark green clouds or orange-gray skies, hail, rotating clouds or funnels, and listen for a loud roar. Also, stay tuned to local weather updates and be ready to take action quickly.

A tornado warning means that either storm spotters have seen a funnel, or radar is indicating a possible funnel. Tornado sirens may sound in your area. You will need to take shelter immediately, listen for updates and remain in a safe place until the tornado has passed.

If you are outside, go to a low-lying area, like a ravine or ditch and cover your head with your hands. Do not take shelter under an overpass. If you are in a trailer or car, seek shelter in a sturdy building immediately. If you are in a building, go to the basement or lowest floor and go to the center of an interior room, like a closet, bathroom, or hallway that is away from windows, doors, corners, and outside walls.

An example of a tornado is the whirlwind that carried Dorothy and her dog Toto away to Oz in the movie The Wizard of Oz.

tornado

noun

pl.-·does or -·dos

a violently whirling column of air, with wind speeds of about 100 to 300 miles per hour, extending downward from a cumulonimbus cloud, esp. in Australia and the central U.S.: usually appearing as a rapidly rotating, slender, funnel-shaped cloud and typically causing great destruction along its narrow path

in W Africa and the adjacent Atlantic, a severe thundersquall

any whirlwind or hurricane

Origin of tornado

altered (prob. based on Spanish tornar, to turn) from Spanish tronada, thunder, thunderstorm from tronar, to thunder from Classical Latin tonare, to thunder

tornado

noun

pl.tor·na·does, or tor·na·dos

A violently rotating column of air extending from a cumulonimbus cloud to the ground, ranging in width from a few meters to more than a kilometer, with destructive winds up to 510 kilometers (316 miles) per hour or higher. Tornadoes are typically associated with a funnel cloud pendant from a storm's wall cloud, often extending to the bottom of the tornado.

tornado

A tornado is a rotating column of air, pendant from a cumulonimbus cloud, and nearly always observable as a funnel cloud or tuba. Its vortex, meters in diameter, rotates counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, with wind speeds of 160 to more than 480 kilometres per hour.

Origin

From Spanish tronada (thunderstorm), from tronar (to thunder), from Latin tonare (to thunder), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tene- (to thunder). The 'o' and 'r' were reversed in English (metathesis) under influence of Spanish tornar (to twist, to turn), from Latin tornare (to turn).